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Most are young Muslims men who have been
radicalised on housing estates around big cities including Paris and
Marseille, but this is the first time that children have been associated
with overseas Jihad, or holy war.

Two British men detained at Heathrow on Monday have been charged with travelling to Syria for terrorism (file picture)

There is very little the French can do once its nationals actually arrive in Syria, although if and when they return they will be put under police surveillance.

Mohammed Merah, a 23-year-old from a Toulouse housing estate, trained with Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan before returning to France to shoot dead seven people, including off-duty soldiers, in 2012.

Merah was himself killed by police following the atrocities, which led to the French authorities pledging to clamp down on youthful radicalism.